My dear friends Matthew, Benjamin & Julia came to play at our portrait studio recently. I always have such a fun time photographing them! They each have such beautiful smiles and expressive eyes.
Miss Amelia came to visit me recently. She wasn’t incredibly excited about being in the portrait studio, but we managed to get some great photographs of her. Doesn’t she have the most gorgeous blue eyes?
So I am crazy mad in love with our new prints on metal. Photographed this beautiful portrait of three brothers playing by the lake. The metal prints are so hard to describe, but this one is on display in the studio, at least until mom comes to pick it up, and it is literally stopping people in their tracks.
Phoebe came in during our snow portrait sessions. Just like my daughter, she’s straddling that line between little girl and young woman. I love both sides of Phoebe – the playful girl, and the determined young woman.
Last night, Emma came up to the passenger door, and said “Mom, can I ride in the front seat?” My mind scrambled, trying to remember the laws, and the airbag rules, and how much should she weigh and how old should she be, but I finally said “sure, hop in.” And so we rode to the mall side by side, and had a conversation, just like old friends. And it made me think about how a simple ride in a car marks the milestones along the road from childhood to adulthood.
I remembered that first car ride home from the hospital. Todd drove, I rode in the back seat, Emma in her car seat turned around backwards. I checked every 30 seconds to make sure she was still breathing.
Then the first birthday, where we turned the car seat forward. Now I could see her gummy grins from the rear-view mirror, and she could see where she was going instead of where she had been.
From the car seat, to the booster, where there were cheers at the fact that we didn’t have to buckle her in anymore. She could do it “all by myself!”
Then, nothing at all. Big enough to go “naked.” No car seat, no booster, no apparatus that separated her riding status as a child from that of an adult.
Then, last night, the first ride in the front seat. I know it will be a blink of an eye before the next milestone. I can already glimpse it. We’re both in the front seat, only we’ve traded places. Now I’m in the passenger seat, and she’s in the driver’s seat. One more step towards independence, one more step away.
I’ve been photographing Mary Rose since she was about ten days old. Every year when she comes in, she makes me feel like I’m 5 years old again, all teddy bears and tea parties, and ballerina dresses with pretty painted fingernails.
She has a way of drawing me into her world, and let me tell you, it’s a beautiful place.
We are currently looking for models for our First Communion Portraits. Models must be making their First Communion this year. If you have a child, or know of a child who is making his or her First Communion and would like more information, please email me at leah.severson@gmail.com, or call the studio at 867-3723. Thanks!
